Back again with a few questions

Hi Dahlia68 I would stick with the advice of your surgeon If I was you. I will be 2 years post in November and still have occasional bleeding but my oncologist isn't bothered so I go with that. Some people on here have done the FOD map diet to help with toilet issues and found it helpful, maybe something you could look at. Xx

Hi

The dark days are horrid..too much time and dr Google is awful..

Im 18 months post treatment..I have diverticular disease now and have had 2 diverticulitis flare up..

I follow a very bland diet..try to have a little Fibre in my diet..and as previous mentioned I follow fodmap diet..

I try to drink 8 glasses of water a day

Im trying not to worry about aches and pain..i guess live now will not be the same as the normal before AC.

I hope u get some answers and relief soon .. keep us all posted x

Thank you Bungle1, I guess I have to admit to myself that stuff down there will never be the same again post radiotherapy. We're all in the same boat, just hoping it's gone and doesn't come back but every time there is blood you automatically worry, after all that's what took me to the GP in the first place. 

Hi Squeak, I guess fibre is an important part of my diet and without it I become constipated, no matter how much water I drink everyday! I must have a sluggish bowel. I think the combination of the surgery to remove the polyp and the subsequent radiotherapy has caused a lot of changes inside, changes that will never reverse again. I suppose it's the 'new normal' and just have to grit my teeth and get on with living and trying not to catastrophise and worry. I am sorry about the diverticular disease, that sucks.and I hope it doesn't mean you suffer pain all the time. The things life throws our way can be tough to deal with.

Thank you for your reply and wishing you all the best xx

Hi Jo (Dahlia68 ),

It's great to hear from you again & to know your treatment has been successful although I’m sorry you’re still suffering some pain & discomfort. 

All Dr’s give different advice I know but I was on movicol & later laxido for approximately 3 years post treatment & neither my oncologist or colorectal surgeon had an issue with this. My GP continued prescribing them for me until I felt I didn’t need them any longer. I suffered, as do many following this treatment, with some anal stenosis & to be perfectly honest I don’t know what I’d have done if I’d been advised to stop the stool softeners! I took one sachet first thing in the morning each day but if I found I was struggling to go to the loo I’d take two & as I say all of my Dr’s were aware. 

I really hope you get some relief soon.

Nicola 

Hi Dahlia68,

I am now one and a half years post treatment and am still uncomfortable but I wanted to recommend Biomel which I take every day. It has made a huge difference to my bowel movements which were either constipation or diarrhoea, it might help you.

jet14 xx

Hi Nicola

Thank you for replying and isn't it interesting how different approaches are depending on the medical professional involved. My surgeon was very keen for me to stop the Movicol, even though I was only taking either one or even half a sachet a day. He proclaimed that psyllium is a miracle product! It does keep you sort of regular but unlike the macro gel it doesn't encourage the colon to absorb more water so things can get more firm and cause pain and bleeding.

I sometimes feel like there is a smaller canal now, probably anal stenosis like you suffered, but I also feel that the anal fissure is still not fully healed. Oh the joy of bathroom visits!

I think I will use my own judgement and see how it goes and have another conversation with him about this next time.

Many thanks and I hope you are well xx

Hi jet14

Thank you for this suggestion. I am always keen to try properly and probiotics so I may give this a try and see if it helps to even things out for me a bit.

I hope you are doing well and improving all the time. It's tough isn't it!

Jo

Hello Dahlia68 

Offload all you want, and please don't compare yourself to others, there are very very few who go through this treatment unscathed.

I also had conflicting advice after treatment as I took daily Laxido as I suffered exactly the same problems as you, plus I had stenosis of the anal canal and getting constipated was my absolute dread.  My GP was wonderful and said I will prescribe it for you, I have many patients on long-term Laxido and won't do any harm.  So I still take it daily to this day.  My daughter has IBS and her diet is exemplary, and she suffers from extreme constipation. She has had so many professionals involved in her care and yes, conflicting advice from each one.  Psyllium doesn't help her in the least, she struggles with even two sachets of Laxido.  She has started taking Digestic, very expensive and some poor reviews BUT it really works for her.  

I always think how I used to take my regular morning loo visits completely for granted before treatment and life looks very different for me now - I am not complaining but a tad rueful!

I do hope you you find a solution that you are happy with.

Big hug

Irene xx

Hi Dahlia68,

I put myself on the Fodmap diet when I finished my treatment which helped a lot. The helpful people at Biomel recommended their Fodmap product which I took for a few months to support the diet. I slowly introduced other foods and changed to the ordinary biomel powder . I now only take it when I need it for a few days to keep everything settled. It has helped me enormously. Good luck I hope it works for you xx